An operative who uses his platform to influence the perception of a person, organization, or event. Like a damage-control PR person.

Most often this is in the political context, usually conservative, with the spin doctor masquerading as a journalist or "expert in the field" to lend credibility to what's actually just a PR line cooked up by the right-wing.

After "Deep Throat" finally revealed himself as W. Mark Felt in May, 2005, a parade of spin doctors, old Nixon cronies and convicted Watergate felons appeared in the media, trying to tarnish Felt in any way they could, to distract from and lessen in the public's mind the enormity of the crimes they'd committed 30 years ago.

1. Informal title for the member of an organization specifically responsible for presenting information with a particular slant or point of view, and for recovering an organizations image after a public relations catastrophe.

2. Slang for a disc jokey, especially of vinyl records and mixing.

The House Speakers Spin Doctors really cleaned up the intern scandal with that dropped contact lense story!